Early Day Stories Excerpt
Life at Gravel Ford /Missouri Precinct
Excerpt from Early Day Stories, Coos-Curry Pioneer Historical Association 1944-45 Story Contest
The Sturdivant Homestead
The homestead of their choice was found on the East fork of the Coquille river, which later proved to be one of the finest, with rich bottom land, plenty of hill land, and a lot of fine standing timber.
The homestead was just a wilderness of tall trees and underbrush, with elk trails through it. A few settlers were in the valley, the closest being several miles away by trails through dense forests.
A little spot was cleared and a log house was soon put up for a temporary home. It had one large room; a doorway in one end had a quilt hung over it to serve as a door. Gunny sacks were hung over the small square windows.
...as the months passed she learned the habits of different animals and the night noises near the house, she feared them less. Something always seemed to be prowling around the house at night. Sometimes they would climb up the logs of the house, then slide down real fast. They never knew what animal was cutting such capers. There were a great many hoot owls in the trees. Their loud hooting at night made the woods seem alive and terrifying.
The deer and the elk did a lot of damage [to the garden], eating and trampling it down. Also the raccoons, which were plentiful, were very fond of the corn. The task of fencing in the garden had to be resorted to. Split rails and logs were used. The deer would leap over an ordinary height fence with ease, so it was made quite high.
Drying and salting down, also smoking, were the methods used for food preservation for the winter supply. The corn, beans, apples and berries were dried. Meats and fish were salted down or smoked. There was a goodly supply of hazelnuts on the place that were picked and dried.
The first trip for supplies was made on foot. A group of settlers [Weekly men may have been part of this group] walked over the trail through Brewster Mountain to Roseburg. In the Lookingglass Valley, near Roseburg, they found a flouring mill. The flour sold for .75 cts. per 50 lb. sack. Each of the men carried a 50 lb. sack on his back. It took several days for this trip. Finally the pack trains were used. They would ride the horses out, load them with supplies, and walk and lead them home. The women and children would stay home in the wilderness and carry on until the men returned.
Within a few years a new house was built, rough lumber house, with a fireplace, quite on the order of all pioneer homes. There was plenty of room.
Each pioneer home had a doctor book or medical book. In a case of sickness they would watch for symptoms, read in this book, then diagnose the case and proceed with the treatment. With a certain knowledge of simple remedies, and most certainly there were some good ones, they usually would effect a cure. Nature had to play a big part in those days, and of course, there might have been a few "Quack" treatments and remedies, but they usually got well some how. There was not a doctor within miles. There also was the dental problems. My Mother suffered from a bad tooth for days. The she could no longer stand it, she heated the sharp end of a file in the fire to red hot to sterilize it, then when it was cool, she pried the tooth out.
Mother knitted all the socks that Father and the boys wore. She would wash and dry the wool; card and spin it into yarn on her spinning wheel that she brought to Oregon with her.
Finally Myrtle Point attracted them as a trading center. Our farm was just ten miles east of there, but it was an all day trip. In the winter the mud was knee deep on a horse, and the low lands would flood with the high water from the river running rampant.
There were lots of elk on our place. Father killed only enough for their needs. He never killed anything for the sport of it, but always for food. When a large bird was killed, such as an owl or eagle that had long wings, Mother would cut of the wings and set a heavy weight on them to press them flat. When they were dry, they made excellent dusters or could be used to sweep with.
The trapping of fur bearing animals on our place proved quite profitable. There were beavers, minks, martens, skunks, weasels, otters and fox that had salable pelts and many prime pelts were obtained, especially from the mink and marten.
The settlers of the East fork made a road to connect with the Coos Bay Wagon Road at Dora, which is the junction of the East fork and North fork. They built the road entirely on donation labor... Some of the settlers living in our valley were the Weeklys, Brights, Culbertsons, Hansons, Jacksons, Bennetts, Smiths, Swans, Minards, Krantzs', Taylors and others.
The name selected for our community was Gravelford. The river had to forded to get to Myrtle Point as there were no bridges then. At this particular spot was the only gravel bottom in the river for a convenient crossing, so the ford was made there - hence the name Gravel Ford. It was near the forks of the river where the North Fork flowed into the East Fork of the Coquille river.
The need of a bridge for winter crossing when the water was too deep for fording, was their next problem. The pioneer furnished the material and built the bridge on donation labor. It was built over the gravel bottomed ford. The settlers of the East Fork also helped build the Fox bridge on the North Fork, gratis.
Prayer meetings and church services, also play parties and dances were held in the homes. Father used to play the fiddle for dancing.
The first school house at Gravel Ford was a small one room house, built on the Jackson farm. This served for years for both school and church. They sat on split log benches. Later, a rough lumber building was erected, just across the road, replacing the log house. The first floor was used for school and church and the second floor was for dancing and business meeting. There were 35 or 40 pupils in the school, all in one room. On Fridays there would be competition of scholastic contests, such as spelling down, ciphering down, and writing contests.
The first post office was in the Alex Jackson home. He had it a few years then it was moved to the J.D. Bennett home at Gravel Ford, where they were in charge for many years.